jacobhornback

Okay might as well start from the beginning. This is my 1988 corvette 4x3 just passed on to me by my dad. He bought the car exactly as it is now (bbs wheels/ body kit/car phone) in September of 97 (I was seven years old) from a super wealthy guy that he made parts for. Not the kind of guy to spare expense (he was on the news in my hometown for tax evasion in 2007 I found an old article today)

"He claimed he had no assets, not even a bank account. But he failed to mention to the IRS his fancy home, his Corvette, Cadillac, Ferrari, Jaguar, and his 72-foot yacht." - so yeah he was super rich

My parents put maybe 15k on the car between 97 and 2004 when it was parked and sat under a cover in our barn for 14 years. it has 77k now.

this is how things have gone since then.
first was a battery, put it in and turned it over just to see what would happen. nothing( luckily). opened the tank and pulled a rusty sending unit and pumped 8 gallons of foul foul smelling reddish "gas" out of the tank. I cleaned the tank out as good as I could with rags and rubbing alcohol and waited on my 380 dollar Ecklers sending unit/pump. Also changed the fuel filter. When the sending unit came I dropped it in and the car fired up like it was parked yesterday. The engine sounded fine I revved it up a little bit threw it in gear and let the clutch out and it just barely crept foreword. the more gas I gave it the faster it would move but it could sit at an idle with the car in gear and the clutch out. I drove it around for maybe 7 miles going as fast as 50mph and constantly working the clutch and stopping reversing ect.... I decided it was probably gonna need a new pressure plate and I parked it with the engine running fine, having started the car several different times throughout the day. Fast forward 2 months. Finally get time/money to have it looked at. Go to start it and the battery is dead. hooked it up to the charger and immediately noticed the security light flashing. I cranked on it for about a minute and gave up because it clearly wasn't getting fuel. Pushed it on a trailer and took it to an unnamed possibly unqualified mechanic to have the clutch fixed. I told him everything id done and he said he'd look into the fuel problem. When he gets around to looking at it he texts me asking about the security light flashing I told him he might be using the wrong key (there were two in the car and one was missing the chip). He got the security light off but was still having trouble getting the pump to kick on and seemed to think the ignition and sensor were bad so I let the guy put a new one in. He texted me and told me that the clutch was in and it was ready but it was still running rough. (It never ran rough for me it was clearly just a drivetrain issue). When I went to pick it up I could barely get it up on the trailer. It was running ROUGH. I pulled it home and then drove it around the block a few times. started it at least 3 times before I parked it where its at now and won't start. it is getting fuel at the rail. I don't know the exact amount but enough to squirt out an inch or to high when the valve is pressed while its turning over. sometimes on the first crank it will sound like its going to fire right up but it just keeps turning over without so much as a cough. I'm not a mechanic but I'm not an idiot either. my hunch is that its something electrical, some kind of a sensor or something to do with anti theft but then again I have no idea. Thanks to anyone who reads this mess and any suggestions are much appreciated.
P.s - my dad wrecked the front end of the car about a year before it was parked. no major damage just pretty much just the front bumper and spoiler and one wheel. I can remember him being upset when they told him they couldn't get an identical replacement for the spoiler. now 15 years later as I've been researching the car I'm pretty sure its because it was an original GTO kit. Only evidence I have is the RPO 1az (modification stock order sold) and the 4 slot panels on the side but it'd be awesome if someone had any info on that.
thanks again guys

Vetteman Jack

I’m going to move this to C4 Tech and hopefully someone can give you recommendations on how to fix your car.